Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

When "I Know Where I've Been" Almost Didn't Get There

"There's a light

In the darkness

Though the night

Is black as my skin.

There's a light

Burning bright

Showing me the way

But I know where I've been."

At the end of Hairspray (currently at the Moonlight Amphitheatre), Motormouth Maybelle, an African-American woman who boasts she's "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful, sings "I Know Where I've Been." It's an anthem about the struggle for racial equality that many have sung since, among them Queen Latifah.

According to composer Marc Shaiman, the song created such controversy before the show hit Broadway, it was almost left out.

Shaiman and lyricist Scott Wittman dreamed of turning John Waters movie [1988] into a musical long before they had the chance. So when producer Margo Lion asked if they were interested, they quickly wrote four songs on spec.: "I Know Where I've Been," "Good Morning, Baltimore" (which opens the show), "Welcome to the Sixties," and "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful." Lion loved all four and hired the duo.

"From that point on," says Shaiman, "we became the engines of the actual process of writing the show, perceiving how it should look and sound and who else to work on it" (including the Old Globe's Jack O'Brien to direct).

From the start, they wanted "I Know Where I've Been" to be Hairspray's rousing "Eleven O'Clock" number.

They never imagined that a "torrent of protest would follow us from almost everyone involved with the show."

Many wanted the musical not to be about the civil rights movement - loss of box office among their fears. Some said the song was "too sad," others, "too preachy." They wanted Tracy Turnblad (the unself-conscious star) to have the boffo number.

Shaiman and Wittman held their ground. "We simply didn't want our show to be yet another showbiz version of a civil rights story where the black characters are just background," says Shaiman. "And what could be more Tracy Turnblad-like than to give the 'eleven o'clock number' to the black family at the heart of the struggle?

"Luckily the audiences embraced this moment, which enriches the happy ending to follow...It's our proudest achievement of the entire experience of writing Hairspray."

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Gonzo Report: Downtown thrift shop offers three bands in one show

Come nightfall, Humble Heart hosts The Beat

"There's a light

In the darkness

Though the night

Is black as my skin.

There's a light

Burning bright

Showing me the way

But I know where I've been."

At the end of Hairspray (currently at the Moonlight Amphitheatre), Motormouth Maybelle, an African-American woman who boasts she's "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful, sings "I Know Where I've Been." It's an anthem about the struggle for racial equality that many have sung since, among them Queen Latifah.

According to composer Marc Shaiman, the song created such controversy before the show hit Broadway, it was almost left out.

Shaiman and lyricist Scott Wittman dreamed of turning John Waters movie [1988] into a musical long before they had the chance. So when producer Margo Lion asked if they were interested, they quickly wrote four songs on spec.: "I Know Where I've Been," "Good Morning, Baltimore" (which opens the show), "Welcome to the Sixties," and "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful." Lion loved all four and hired the duo.

"From that point on," says Shaiman, "we became the engines of the actual process of writing the show, perceiving how it should look and sound and who else to work on it" (including the Old Globe's Jack O'Brien to direct).

From the start, they wanted "I Know Where I've Been" to be Hairspray's rousing "Eleven O'Clock" number.

They never imagined that a "torrent of protest would follow us from almost everyone involved with the show."

Many wanted the musical not to be about the civil rights movement - loss of box office among their fears. Some said the song was "too sad," others, "too preachy." They wanted Tracy Turnblad (the unself-conscious star) to have the boffo number.

Shaiman and Wittman held their ground. "We simply didn't want our show to be yet another showbiz version of a civil rights story where the black characters are just background," says Shaiman. "And what could be more Tracy Turnblad-like than to give the 'eleven o'clock number' to the black family at the heart of the struggle?

"Luckily the audiences embraced this moment, which enriches the happy ending to follow...It's our proudest achievement of the entire experience of writing Hairspray."

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

A Pig's Paradise

Next Article

The Ink is Black. The Page is White. A'ight?

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader